Chapter 70: The Hidden Spirit Root

Chapter 70: The Hidden Spirit Root

As the final contestant stepped off the arena stage, the preliminary scoring round concluded. Two competitors from other high schools had withdrawn midway, leaving thirty-three participants to be divided into eight groups for the elimination rounds.

Seven groups contained four fighters each, requiring random draw matchups to reduce each to a single victor. The eighth group, however, held five competitors. After drawing lots, this group would have one fighter granted a bye while the remaining four battled in pairs, ultimately crowning one winner.

Once all eight groups had their sole survivors, the tournament would have its eight finalists.

Following the scoring round, competitors were granted a rest period. Zhang Yu stretched lazily before suggesting to Bai Zhenzhen, “Let’s find a restroom.”

After an exhaustive search, they discovered no facilities existed near the competition grounds. When Song Hailong passed by, Zhang Yu asked, “Do you know where the restroom is?”

Song Hailong smirked. “Bailong High has no toilets.”

“What? You people just… relieve yourselves anywhere?” Zhang Yu blurted, stunned.

Song Hailong’s expression darkened. “Our faculty and students underwent digestive system modifications. We’ve no need for primitive, filthy time-wasters like toilets.”

Zhang Yu blinked. “So… what do we do?”

“There might be primitive facilities on the first floor for… lower-class use,” Song Hailong replied coolly.

Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen eventually found two shoddy restrooms outside the first-floor corridor—each charging ten credits per use. After borrowing money from Qian Shen, they grumbled their way through the experience.

Returning to the arena, they found the eight groups already assigned. Eight massive platforms had risen simultaneously, ready to host the elimination rounds.

Zhang Yu exhaled in relief. “Good—Zhenzhen and I aren’t in the same group.” His gaze shifted uneasily. “But her group…”

Bai Zhenzhen’s group contained a standout competitor: Hu Yuntao, a Tiger-Headed Yao Hybrid from Red Pagoda High. His humanoid frame bristled with tiger fur and claws, his head resembling a feline predator. Earlier, Zhang Yu’s Celestial Eye Talisman had analyzed him:

Protected Zone | Dragon-Tiger Demon Blood | Pharmaceutical Barrel | Steel Bones.

Lei Jun’s translation echoed in Zhang Yu’s mind: Born in a demon beast reserve, infused with dragon blood, force-fed enhancement drugs, and surgically reinforced with steel bones.

Recalling Hu Yuntao’s preliminary score of 266—the second-highest among Red Pagoda contestants—Zhang Yu grimaced. The fighter was a six-sided warrior: immense strength, speed, offense, and defense, with no visible weaknesses.

“He skipped the Magic Aptitude Competition, so he’s probably bad at spiritual power control,” Zhang Yu mused. “But making it here means he’s a beast in hand-to-hand combat.”

Zhang Yu eyed Hu Yuntao’s razor-sharp claws. “Shouldn’t they remove those claws before letting a beast compete? It’s like fighting with built-in weapons—so unfair.”

As Bai Zhenzhen approached her group’s arena, three opponents awaited: representatives from Bailong, Ziyun, and Red Pagoda High Schools. Drawing lots, she faced Hu Yuntao directly. The winner would later battle the victor of the other two.

Placing a hand on her abdomen, Bai Zhenzhen whispered, “After all this waiting… today, I’ll finally rise and stun them all.”

Across from her, Hu Yuntao sauntered onto the platform, barely glancing her way.

---

Hu Yuntao, like Magic Aptitude contestant Xiong Bufan, hailed from the Yao Hybrid breeding grounds. Yet where others might feel shame, Hu Yuntao bore his lineage with pride.

He carried dragon blood—a mark of superiority. In the reserve, the Red Pagoda High School Board Trustee, his “father,” inseminated pregnant subjects monthly, producing hundreds of dragon-blooded hybrids. From birth, these children endured drug regimens and conditioning.

The weak became factory workers. Those with low intelligence staffed reserves or textile mills. Only the exceptional earned entry to Red Pagoda High—the “paradise” where they signed contracts with their “father,” securing their right to education.

No labor—only study! echoed in every hybrid’s heart. Hu Yuntao had clawed his way here, defying elimination. Now, he’d prove his worth to his father.

---

The match began.

“3… 2… 1—Begin!”

Hu Yuntao lunged, claws slicing air like blades. Bai Zhenzhen’s slight frame seemed no match. He aimed to rip her arms off, tear her throat open—end it swiftly.

“This strike alone will cost you 600,000 credits in medical fees.”

But suddenly, a primal warning surged in his mind. He halted mid-lunge, retreating instinctively.

Spiritual essence swirled toward Bai Zhenzhen, condensing at her fingertips like faint sword light.

“A combat Spirit Root?!” Hu Yuntao narrowed his eyes.

---

In the audience, Qian Shen observed, “What kind of Spirit Root is that? Never seen its like. The spiritual essence reaction’s massive—maybe a Heavenly Spirit Root?”

Zhao Tianxing muttered, “No wonder Zhenzhen’s broke. She must’ve spent a fortune renting that. This tournament’s bleeding us dry.”

---

Bai Zhenzhen smirked inwardly. They think I rented this Spirit Root?

She’d never waste money on rentals. Why spend on temporary power when she’d hidden her own Spirit Root for years?

Since childhood, suppressing her Spirit Root felt like endlessly holding in bodily urges. A decade of restraint.

“Don’t absorb spiritual essence. Don’t let them detect your Spirit Root,” her caretakers had drilled into her daily.

For nine years, she’d stifled herself until the Spirit Root seemingly vanished. That day, she’d felt free—until realizing it hadn’t disappeared. It had hidden, dragging her essence into obscurity.

She became a ghost—unseen, unheard. The world abandoned her until she reclaimed visibility.

---

Spiritual essence surged toward Bai Zhenzhen. Hu Yuntao snarled, charging again.

Then—she vanished.

He spun, claws scraping empty air. A stealth-type Spirit Root?

Suddenly, danger!

Bai Zhenzhen reappeared mid-air, fingertip aimed at his dantian.

Hu Yuntao reacted instantly, slashing at her hand. “Too slow! You can’t win with tricks!”

But her strike shifted like flowing water, evading his claws. As he lunged, her footwork tripped him—deliberately.

He tumbled off the platform.

“I’m not done yet!” he roared, but the referee dragged him away by his scruff.

Bai Zhenzhen flicked her finger dismissively. “What a fool. I wasn’t even serious.”

Victory was hers.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end